Peter Eötvös replaces Pierre Boulez in an all 20th century programme

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Peter Eötvös, Christian Tetzlaff, London Symphony Orchestra, Salle Pleyel, Paris, May 1 2012
Peter Eötvös, Nikolaj Znaider, London Symphony Orchestra, Salle Pleyel, Paris, May 2 2012

Prominent French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez had imagined 2 programmes with the London Symphony Orchestra around works from the 1st half of the 20th century from Claude Debussy, Karol Szymanowski, Alexander Scriabin and Béla Bartók.

Due to a recommendation from his oculist, he had to step down for both evenings and chose Peter Eötvös to replace him. The 2 men know each other well, and the Hungarian conductor is also a recognized composer. Continue reading →

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Parallels between Kurt Masur & Michel Plasson concerts in Paris

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Michel Plasson, Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris, Opéra Bastille, Paris, April 25 2012
Kurt Masur, Orchestre National de France, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, April 26 2012

I thought I would start this blog with a word on these 2 maestros who graced Paris concert halls this week.

Both conductors share a remarkable insight on music (Plasson obviously for French music, but not exclusively, Masur for German & Russian music among others, due to his youth in Eastern Germany), both have what I would call a “classical” approach – which to me is clearly a compliment – and are loved by the musicians for their humanism. Continue reading →

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Exhibition Ibrahim Shahda, Aix-en-Provence

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A selection of paintings by Ibrahim Shahda, the Egyptian born painter who moved to France in the 1950s, was exhibited in Aix-en-Provence.

In contrast with the 2009 exhibition in Paris and the recent one in Marseilles, which focused on portraits and self-portraits, the works on display also included still lifes and landscapes.

There are at least two fascinating things with Shahda:

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Exhibition Ibrahim Shahda, Marseilles

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Ibrahim Shahda, who was born in Egypt but decided to live and work in France, is one of these major artists who has not yet the general recognition his work deserves.

I see mainly 2 reasons for this: he painted portraits, still lifes and landscapes in a time where abstract art ruled ; and he always refused concessions if he believed his art would suffer from them.

As in the 2009 exhibition which took place in Paris, the current exhibition focuses on portraits and self-portraits.

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Jazz gigs from 2010: Kartet, Jim Hall trio, Corea/Vitous/Haynes, Bley

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2010 was a great year to see some of the most amazing jazz legends to grace the world’s stages, just like the year I saw Stan Getz and Miles Davis…

First and last were French quartet Kartet, playing near Paris (at Le Triton in Les Lilas in March, and at Montreuil’s Conservatoire in December). Kartet are known by jazz lovers in France, Finland, North America (the New York Times voted one of their albums as one of the “Best 10 discs of pop/jazz of the year”)…

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Peter Hammill in Paris and London, January 2010

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The 1st pop/rock/jazz concert of 2010 was Peter Hammill at La Maroquinerie in Paris. Peter is not a person to arrive late – something I really appreciate – but due to our congested public transport system I was the one who was a couple minutes late and missed the 1st song, Easy to Slip Away.

I was not happy with it but quickly focused on the songs the thin man delivered with passion, anger, humour, and all the range of human feelings.

As usual with solo gigs, PH opened playing on the keyboard, performing brilliant versions of Other Old Clichés, Shell and Gone Ahead. This song is one of my favourite from his album Incoherence, the follower of Clutch, 2 masterpieces from the 2000s.

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